Table Prayer: Be Present At Our Table, Lord

The song Be Present At Our Table, Lord is one of several that can be sung as an English or Norwegian table prayer at meals. As an predominately Lutheran country since 1537, to say this song has a long tradition in Norway is no exaggeration!

The music is attributed to the Genevan Psalter (a song book) in 1551 and the original lyrics were written by British hymnist John Cennick in 1741.

Lyrics To Be Present At Our Table Lord In English

Be present at our table, Lord;
Be here and everywhere adored;
Thy creatures bless, and grant that we
May feast in paradise with Thee.

We thank Thee, Lord, for this our food,
For life and health and every good;
By Thine own hand may we be fed;
Give us each day our daily bread.

We thank Thee, Lord, for this our good,
But more because of Jesus’ blood;
Let manna to our souls be giv’n,
The Bread of Life sent down from Heav’n.

How to Sing Be Present At Our Table Lord

The thing to remember in singing a prayer together is to have fun. You don’t have to be perfect or professional, just present and participating!

In English

In Norwegian

It was surprisingly difficult to find a video of this song in Norwegian! This has no pictures, but the sound is the best that I could find. If you can find or create a better one, drop me a link in the comments!

Many people look fondly upon memories of Norwegian table prayers with the ones they love. Consider carrying on this tradition or starting it up again if it has fizzled out for a while. If you play instruments, sheet music for this song is also available. A heritage must be maintained to be meaningful, so in finding your own way to celebrate your roots consider a simple song!

20 Comments

I grew up having this prayer sung at any meal at church. Our pastor would begin the prayer. Now that I am on the west coast no one has ever heard of it. I’m going to try and circulate it and try to get it started.

I’ve been singing the first verse for as long as I can remember at the Lutheran church I grew up in. I never knew there were more verses, but my mother’s family (of Norwegian descent) has always used the first two lines of the second verse as a spoken table grace! Now I know where it came from.

My family has said this prayer for years especially at Holiday dinners! I didn’t know it was sung to the doxology tune. My dad was raised Lutheran I have to guess maybe it came from his side of the family. So interesting its history is Norwegian!

We’re not Norwegian but we’ve been singing the first verse ever since I remember, from my moms side but there English as in British and I sung this for my friends once at a dinner and they looked at my like I was from another planet

My childhood in Eastern North Dakota were filled with Sunday church dinners blessed with singing this song. I always thought it was a Lutheran prayer! We continued this tradition for a time after we moved south, but slowly it faded away. Of course hearing the old hymn brought the memory of the song so I had to look up the lyrics. The last stanza welled in my soul, I had never known it. Wow, I never knew it was a Norwegian blessing either! Being from pure Norwegian descent, and being raised in a predominantly Norwegian community, I was unaware of the origin of this song.
Thank you for posting this! How beautiful that the lyrics are an example of the greatest gratitude we can offer our Lord at mealtime! I am so happy that I found this. I am so proud of my Norwegian heritage and the beautiful song of thanks. Thank you!

As many Christmas’s that I can remember, we sang this song. My Grandma always loved to sing it and taught the entire family to sing it. Not bring a very religious family, it was a little off of our style but loved singing it together and being part of our Christmasas tradition. Some of my favorite memories are connected to this song. Filled with family and Love. I’m happy to found this posting. Thanks for sharing. Merry Christmas!

Many Norwegians sing this hymn, but in fact the tune was composed by an English Methodist in Ireland, and the original text came from the French hymn collaborator of John Calvin! My Swedish and Norwegian Lutheran family loves singing it too, even if it’s not Norwegian!

I love this mealtime prayer. My relatives at the farm sing it often. In 20 years, I had never heard it in eastern Canada, but now that I have returned to western Canada I hear it often. This is indeed one of my favourite prayers!

Thank you! I, too, grew up in Eastern North Dakota, and being of Norwegian ancestry, I’m pleasantly surprised and proud it’s a Norwegian blessing. We always sang it at our family gatherings, and I’ve always loved it. So many memories…